The experiences of Brewers prospects while on the Arizona Fall League's Peoria Javelinas.

Cooler temps, ready to play

Finally the weather has cooled and the temperature here is perfect. Now i am starting to see why people move here for the winter. It almost reminds me of being home in San Diego…almost. For whatever reason, the cooler temps have caused the games to move along at a quicker pace and the play of our team has improved. We are now 7-5 and tied with the Surprise Rafters for first place in the West Division. This past week we had a couple night games which was a nice change from the many day games we’ve been playing so far. The night games have been great because they allowed us to sleep in a couple of times and puts us back on our normal pattern from the regular season. The only problem with that, is most the time a day game follows a night game so we end up going to sleep late and then waking up early ready to play again. But even with the short sleep, the night games have been worth it and I definitely look forward to more of them.

So far, I have gotten into a rough start off the the field down here in Arizona. As if getting a flat tire wasn’t enough last week, this week I got strep throat and was out a few days. I am pretty sure i got it from a few other teammates that had it right before me. It was just one of those things that sometimes go through the clubhouse and I was unfortunate enough to have a locker right next to one of the first guys to come down with it. Because of my illness, my weekend was me being a bum. For 3 days straight i was on the couch either watching football games during our games or movies at night. I managed to go through 6 movies including one of my favorites, Shawshank Redemption. I was able to do one productive thing this weekend as my roommate had his wife in town for their anniversary so i volunteered to be their chauffer to and from dinner just so i could get out of the house and do something. I wanted to wear a suit and the little hat that chauffers wear but my roommate wouldn’t let me…probably for the best. As of today I am feeling a lot better…still a little light headed and all but I am still scheduled to make my next start on Wednesday. As long as I continue to throw strikes and avoid the long ball, I should be able to improve on my first two starts.

As for some of the questions I was asked last week. I am a power sink pitcher that works in the 88-92 mph range with my fastball for the most part. I also throw a curve, slider and change-up. My out pitch changes with the day because on certain days some of my pitches work better than others, so thats something ill usually figure out in the bullpen before the game and see what I have a good feel for. One of the big things im working on down here in Arizona is fastball command and with that comes repeating my arm slot on every pitch. Sometimes I tend to vary my arm path so in the AFL, I’m just trying to be more consistent with it. One other thing that i am working on is my change-up. I need to develop that pitch into a pitch that i can throw at anytime to keep hitters from jumping on my fastball and at this time right now I just dont feel comfortable enough to throw it in any count. Everyone out here is always trying to get better and working on things, so you are always talking to roommates, teammates from other organizations and coaches about new pitches, new grips and anything else that may help you and take you to that next level.

The other four pitchers out here for the Brewers are Mark Rogers, Omar Aguilar, Zach Braddock, and Rob Wooten.

Well thats it for this week. Keep tuning in for more updates and keep the questions coming, ill be happy to answer.

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4 Comments

Hey Josh,

It’s good to see someone updating this thing more than once. Keep up the good work. Here’s a few questions for you if you have time. Are you a straight or circle change guy? Also, how much does the dry AZ weather change your approach? A lot of guys talk about how they’re secondary pitches work differently there. I’m curious if you’ve run into the same thing.

Hey Josh- Great to see a USD guy in the AFL. I started going to USD baseball games when I moved to SD from NYC 5 years ago. So I remember that big poof of hair you pitched with here. What’s been the toughest part of adjusting to pro ball for you? And who’s been the toughest batter you’ve faced so far? Good luck out there.

I’m curious, what do you guys talk about in the bullpen? I mean, you can’t talk about baseball ALL the time haha. Also, when did you know you wanted to play MLB? Who was your role model as a pitcher growing up? Did you try to emulate anyone, or did you always try to have your own style?
Elizabethhttp://redsoxgirl46.mlblogs.com

I’m curious, what do you guys talk about in the bullpen? I mean, you can’t talk about baseball ALL the time haha. Also, when did you know you wanted to play MLB? Who was your role model as a pitcher growing up? Did you try to emulate anyone, or did you always try to have your own style?
Elizabethhttp://redsoxgirl46.mlblogs.com

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